The rapid spread of coronavirus disease Covid-19 is affecting businesses all over the country. Several newspaper vendors in Kolkata complained of drop in sales as people have stopped purchasing papers due to fears of contracting the Sars-CoV-2 virus.
“Most of our customers have stopped purchasing newspaper, saying that it can carry the virus into their homes. We are not even allowed to enter most of the housing societies,” a hawker told news agency ANI in Kolkata.
“Our sales have gone down by 80 per cent,” said Amit Goswami, a newspaper distributor in Kolkata.
The government imposed sweeping restrictions as part of a 21-day lockdown to check the spread of the virus, which affected trucks ferrying essential supplies and Indian Railways staff handling cargo operations as police within states and at borders restricted their movements.
“Our staff across all zones are facing difficulties in reaching the terminals as they are being stopped by the local authorities. In many cases zonal divisional railway managers (DRMs) have had to call the police and ensure staffers are allowed. As transportation has not been provided, they have had to walk and some cycled,” a government official aware of the developments said on condition of anonymity.
In Delhi, serpentine queues could be seen outside Mother Dairy outlets. At many grocery shops, people were told that essential items were in short supply. Many could also be seen queuing outside gas cylinder agencies to purchase cooking fuel.
In five days, the number of Covid-19 cases has jumped from about 200 to 606, and experts say the number could surge if more people are tested. Five fresh cases were reported in the national capital in the last 24 hours.
Of 606 cases, 553 are active cases, 42 patients have recovered and have been discharged from the hospital. Ten people have died.